After a relaxing drive, the transport arrived at the small settlement where the survivors of Kennedy had made their new home, at least temporarily. It wasn’t much of a settlement but more of a bunker dug into a low hill. The underground bunker didn’t have many amenities, but it was off the grid and did have running hot water.

The stand-alone water-filtration system had been set up by a well-to-do survivalist, and the bunker was large enough for at least sixty people. With a five-thousand-gallon water tank at its core and a state-of-the-art tankless water heater, all the prisoners were able to enjoy hot showers. Weeks, if not months, of dirt and filth was washed away and filtered out of the bunker’s water supply system.

Once they had finished letting the soap scrubber and the hot spray of refreshing water remove the layers of caked-on dirt and filth, they exchanged their temporary Order uniforms for regular civilian clothes. Some of the clothing was on-hand at the repurposed survivalist’s shelter, but most had been brought from the space center. The survivors of the center took in the former prisoners as if they were their own and set them up with cots to help sleep off some of the effects of their horrible ordeal. While the group got itself settled in, Reece took the opportunity to speak with Angel.

“We need to talk in private.”

“What’s up?” asked Angel, following Reece outside and away from everyone else.

“I’m going to leave this here with you,” said Reece as he handed over the hard drive from the space station.

“Okay, but why? Are you planning on going somewhere?” asked Angel, clearly wondering at Reece’s motives.

“Yeah. I can’t stay here. It’s not safe for the community. These people have been through too much already. It’s this cursed black rock,” said Reece as he pulled the object from his pack. “It attracts far too much trouble. I found a journal at the compound we attacked. It specifically mentioned that this Order was actively searching for this thing.”

“I’ve started to think that’s the real reason why the space center was attacked. I need to get this thing far away from here before more innocent folks die,” he explained as he tucked the rock away again. “Look, I’ll take a radio with me and stay in the area as much as possible. If something happens here, I should be able to come right back to help.”

“I hear you, brother,” responded Angel. “But at least half the success of the Kennedy Center was due to you and your efforts there. So, if you’re taking credit for the bad, you at least deserve credit for the good you’ve done too. Still, if you feel you need to leave, then fine. I won’t try to stop you. But don’t do it on our account. I’m pretty sure I can speak for everyone here that we’d rather you stay. But I understand. If they are hunting for that rock, then you’re probably doing the right thing. Just...don’t be a stranger.”

“I appreciate that. And hey, as I said, I don’t plan on going far. Besides, I feel like I need to fight back. We need to rebuild. I get that. But we’re still being brought down by this so-called Order. And it’s not just us. No one, anywhere, will truly be able to rebuild in safety while they are still out there and in power. We gotta take them down. It’s just that simple.”

“Alright, man. I guess I’ll have to keep the home fires burning,” replied Angel as he jokingly added, “At least I’ll have a lot of company, Naeva...Ciera...Dr. Firth. But, it’s okay. You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself anyways. I mean, I’m sure that it’ll be just awful.”

“Oh, I think I’ll manage,” smiled Reece. “Say goodbye for me, will you? I hate goodbyes, and besides... as I said, I’ll be around.”

“Sure thing, bud,” replied Angel, snapping his fingers as something just occurred to him. “Oh, before I forget. I had a little time to analyze those collars that the Order’s been using. I figured out how to jam the signal that remotely activates them. It’s quite simple. You see, they’re using a pretty high frequency so...”

“Okay, okay...just tell me how it works. I’m not half the engineer that you are, at least not with comms equipment.”

“Oh, you don’t give yourself enough credit, but fine...use any of our walkies and set them to single-band, but channel forty-four. It uses the same frequency, but at a higher bandwidth and power output, essentially burying the signal. The only problem is this, you’ll have to keep the button pressed the entire time you need to block the signal.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind if I need to rescue anyone wearing one of those things. You’re some kind of genius, you know that?”

“Ah, shucks,” slurred Angel in his best drawl as he replied to the compliment.

The two men exchanged a firm handshake which Angel quickly pulled into a hug. When the friendly embrace ended, Angel gave him an off-hand two-finger salute from his brow, adding a wink to the motion.

“Take care and don’t be a stranger,” he added.

“Never,” said Reece as he nodded before walking out to his solar cycle. Folding up the solar sail he had set up the day before, he then stashed it back into its case on the side of the bike. Sitting on the bike, he brought up its diagnostics utility on the monitor. He felt a presence behind him while the bike’s diagnostics program ran through its automated testing sequence.

“All set?” asked a girl’s voice that he instantly recognized as Karina’s.

“Yeah...you?” he responded to her after witnessing all the tests come back green.

He closed out the completed testing screen on the bike’s monitor and looked up at the girl whom he had chosen as his companion, and she, him. Karina merely nodded her platinum blonde head in response before sauntering right up next to him. Sitting on the Helios, he was about her height and she took full advantage of it.

Grabbing him by the sides of his head to keep him from pulling away, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. The long, passionate kiss caught Reece off-guard, and his mouth went slack. As she slid her warm wet tongue past his lips, intertwining it with his, it felt amazing and he found himself reciprocating the deep kiss. Yes, he told himself...he wanted this. He had been traveling a long while with this girl...no, she was a woman...much older than him. All the old cultural taboos were now all but forgotten, along with everything that wasn’t him or her.

As they kissed, something pent up inside of Reece seemed to let go. It was the last piece of him that thought that somehow...some way...things would go back to normal. This apocalyptic reality... it was the new normal and new cultural norms would be established. Deep down he knew he still held onto some reservations; else he wouldn’t still be rationalizing why it was okay for him to kiss such a youthful-looking woman. He was in his late twenties and she appeared to be somewhere in her teens.

Despite that, what they were doing felt right if he didn’t let his head get in the way. Reece pulled away from the cute little lilitu girl and looked deep into her large blood-red eyes. He felt hot and was almost certain his pulse had quickened.

“I guess the world will have to accept that a lot of things are going to be changing,” he said, almost without thinking. “You and I, and the world will just have to get over it. I’m all in, but think I need a little more time before we take this much further. Besides, there’s something else we need to worry about first. Are you ready to start taking down this ridiculous Order?”

Her eyes burned red as she smiled a very wicked smile.

“The Order, huh...,” she said as she tilted her head to the side and looked up while touching a finger to her chin, as if deep in thought. “I think it just might be time to create a little chaos...,” she continued in her cute little girl voice.

“Nice! I like it,” he said while smirking at the girl. “I knew there was a reason I kept your around.”

“Thank you, I do try,” she said, using her voice to sound proud before dropping into a cute little curtsy to complete the endearing act.

“So, let’s create a little chaos, huh? And I know just where to start,” added Reece. “Let’s begin by finishing what my good friend Pasha began in Atlanta when he sacrificed his life ramming our entire space station right up their asses.”

“Oh, what fun we’re going to have together,” laughed Karina as she slid herself in front of him on the cycle. “So, what are we waiting for?”

“Not a thing,” replied Reece. “Let’s get to it.”

Just as Reece began to put his helmet on, he felt a new presence behind them. Turning, he saw Ciera step out of the shadows with a mischievous grin on her face. Once Reece noticed her, she slowly approached the pair. Dressed in old-fashioned blue jeans and a light brown jacket, Ciera also had a pack slung over one shoulder.

“You weren’t planning on leaving without us, were you?” asked the beautiful lilin as she sauntered up to them, stopping just a few feet from their cycle. She looked at them and cocked her head to the side with a mock pout.

Reece’s eyes narrowed and he looked at her sideways as he asked the ever-youthful looking woman, “What do you mean...us?”

The dark beauty and crack shot turned her head to the side and smiled wickedly. From out of the shadows behind her rolled a large wheel. As it continued rolling forward, Reece saw that it belonged to a flaming red hydro-trike as it rolled into view. The vehicle was being pushed by Reece’s original dark temptress, Naeva, who also had a wicked smile painted on her face.

“You don’t have to worry. We have our own ride,” she explained as she slinked up to Ciera and intertwined her arm into Ciera’s, taking the other woman’s hand before her face got serious. “But don’t you dare think you’re going to abandon us.”

The two women looked each other in the eyes and nodded at some secret agreement they had obviously made with one another. Starting with a naughty grin, Ciera leaned in and pressed her lips to Naeva’s, who readily accepted them. Their tongues danced around each other for a moment before they broke the kiss. Ciera looked back up to Reece with a gleam in her eye.

“And we brought our own entertainment, too,” added Ciera in her most sultry voice.

“You two totally prepared that whole thing in advance, didn’t you,” replied Reece in a voice and with a look that let everyone know that he was not amused by the display, though he couldn’t help but notice the warmth spreading across his face and ears as he blushed a deep red.

“Well yeah,” laughed Ciera. “You’ll never understand how fun it is for a girl to watch a guy awkwardly writhe in embarrassment.”

“Yeah,” added Naeva with a huge smirk. “Reece, you really should see your face right now.”

“Okay, we should let them come,” cut in Karina matter-of-factly.

“What?!?” hissed Reece incredulously. “I thought we had talked about this...”

Naeva smiled triumphantly, but Ciera looked positively relieved. Reece noted the strange reaction, despite his apprehension with having two additional traveling companions. It wasn’t like he didn’t want the help. But, while Karina was a force of nature and nearly indestructible, these two women were vulnerable. He just didn’t want to see them get hurt. That would be doubly true if something he did or didn’t do caused them to get hurt or worse.

As the thought flashed through his head, he noticed Ciera give Naeva a questioning look and he shook it from his thoughts. Naeva nodded in return as if affirming something for the lilin. The dark beauty bit her lower lip cutely and strode over to where Reece and Karina still sat on the solar cycle. She dropped down onto one knee and looked them both in the eye, shifting from one to the other before stopping her gaze on Reece.

“I think you both know that I’m a lilin, better known these days as a succubus—but please know that we hate that word, it’s extremely derogatory to us, as it implies...that we are demons,” explained Ciera. “I assure you; we are not. And I beg you to hear me out. So... we do need something to stay alive, like vampires. Normally, this isn’t a problem. We are all made aesthetically pleasing and exude an aura of charm from our natural charisma. Finding willing partners has always been easy pickings for us.”

“But now, there are so few regular humans left,” she lamented. “Although we can feed on the other races of humanity, it isn’t the same. See, it can only sustain us for a short time. It would be like if you have a water supply, but no food. It’ll keep you alive longer, but you will still die of starvation eventually. The other problem is that not all typical humans are compatible either. We can tell from the kiss if someone is suitable for sustenance...”

“Alright, quit beating around the bush and come out with it already,” cut in Karina impatiently.

Ciera swallowed hard before continuing.

“Fine, if you remember, Reece...I kissed you, and just so you know...you’re a match. Not only that, but you’re the only match I’ve been able to find so far. So... you see...I kind of need you to survive.”

“What does that mean? What exactly do you need?” asked Reece, having a pretty good idea of the answer.

“Well, this is somewhat embarrassing, but...well,” whispered the suddenly timid lilin.

“Okay, okay,” cut in Reece. “You don’t need to explain if it makes you this uncomfortable. I want to help, but...”

It was Karina’s turn to cut in. “It’s okay, Reece. Let me ask you a question.”

“Okay.”

“If you decide to become intimate with her, are you going to abandon me?”

“Of course not! I’d be dead ten times over if not for you. You’re stuck with me, through thick and thin. How could you even think that?”

“I didn’t. I just wanted to hear you say it, and for them to hear it as well. You aren’t going to make me jealous. Well, not too jealous. I have little use for that emotion ever since losing my ability to bear children when I was turned into a lilitu a hundred lifetimes ago,” explained Karina. “However, I may need to supervise you two...just to be on the safe side.”

Reece couldn’t be sure if the girl was joking, so he just nodded silently.

“Sounds like a party,” chimed in the ever-playful Naeva. “I may need to keep an eye on Ciera myself. We’re kindred spirits after all, and I don’t need you corrupting her.”

“Somehow I don’t think that would be possible,” replied Reece expressionlessly.

His mind was reeling. What had gotten into these women? He was just starting to wrap his head around having a more serious relationship with Karina on account of her looking so young. He knew it was just a type of vanity, that she was so much more than her looks.

Society had just beat its simplistic ideas of right and wrong into him, and although he had broken through the mental conditioning of social norms, the fragments of them still lingered. He knew he could move past them eventually, but this was moving at a much faster pace than he was comfortable with. And now he was being teased with some very titillating possibilities that challenged his ideas of what a relationship should look like.

“Women are mean,” he thought to himself as he tried to shove the thoughts out of his mind and concentrate on defeating the Order.

“Look, I’ll take care of you, Ciera. I promise. But promise me this in return; that other than what you need from me, you won’t pressure me. This is all just a bit overwhelming right now, and I’m frankly a little suspicious of whatever you have planned.”

Ciera just stared at him and blinked...twice, before responding. “You really know how to turn a girl all gooey, don’t you? Yes, I promise to let you move at your own pace. Thank you, Reece. You are quite literally saving my life.”

“Oh, you are too cute, Reece,” added Naeva. “Don’t worry girls, I’m sure he’ll come around. In the meantime, what was it you said, Karina? It’s time for a little chaos?”

“Uh-huh,” replied the lilitu, once again smiling wickedly.

Reece just shook his head and energized the bike. Both women still standing there squealed, and their eyes grew wide as they realized he was about to take off without them. He figured he owed them a little payback for the uncomfortable situation the women had put him in.

They instantly ran back and jumped onto the trike, started it up, and quickly strapped on gloves and helmets in preparation for the road. Reece slipped on his helmet and gave his bike some juice, taking off towards Atlanta with Karina snuggled in front of him. The hydro-trike soon quietly fell in behind them, the vehicle’s loudest sounds coming from the slight hissing of the hydrogen engine.